Drawing Expressive Portraits

Rating:
Summary: For beginners I guess
Review: I don't care for the type of drawings in this book. They do not have good quality in them. They are sketchy, and very basic. I believe, that whatever you are learning, be it in paint, pastel or pencil, the examples better be what you would like to achieve. I don't want my drawings to look like the ones in the book, they are a bad example of what I would like to accomplish.

I don't feel I learned anything from this. I can't draw from circles and shapes. I need the real thing, with light and shadow. If you want to learn to draw people, start with yourself in the mirror or better yet, have a friend pose for you if he or shee can. Drawing from life is the best way to learn. But, if you need a book, get an artist's anatomy book. The stuff in this book is common sense anyway. I am not patient to start off so basic. I like to just dive in and see what happens and learn from there. I hope this book will help others who don't know how to draw.

Rating:
Summary: For beginners I guess
Review: My preteen daughter loves to draw but most of her work was cartoonish. I wanted something to help her learn the skills of realistic drawing, especially portaits. This book was exactly what I was looking for. It includes faces from babies to elderly people and discusses technique and perspective. We enjoyed the studies of faces expressing various emotions. The narrative helps a developing artist learn how to look at spacing and shading and discusses supplies. There are sections on mouths, ears, noses as well as complete studies. There is a lot of content for the money.

Rating:
Summary: Great book for building skills in portraiture
Review: My preteen daughter loves to draw but most of her work was cartoonish. I wanted something to help her learn the skills of realistic drawing, especially portaits. This book was exactly what I was looking for. It includes faces from babies to elderly people and discusses technique and perspective. We enjoyed the studies of faces expressing various emotions. The narrative helps a developing artist learn how to look at spacing and shading and discusses supplies. There are sections on mouths, ears, noses as well as complete studies. There is a lot of content for the money.